…For The Super Eagles
The argument has been raging on for a long time about who’s best suited to handle the Super Eagles. Many, without any real proof, have decided that either Nigerians don’t have the technical expertise to manage the Eagles or that those who possess any modicum of competence will ultimately be hampered by corruption. For such people, it is a foregone conclusion that foreign coaches are the only ones worth any consideration.
The ultimate and all-encompassing goal of all footballing nations is to win the World Cup at some point. From the very inception of the World Cup about 100 years ago, no foreigner has ever coached to victory in the World Cup. The primary reason for that isn’t all that far-fetched if people were to be honest and sincere. Football is a cultural sport which different nations approach with a unique vibe all their own.
Hiring a foreign manager for the Super Eagles is a bomb waiting to explode. The last two foreign managers alleged that they were owed salaries and to date, no real source has disclosed how much owed by NFF and the ones they claimed to have paid.
Another is the rumour that some of the officials of the NFF have big rules in selecting players for the manager and also insist that the manager will have a team of local coaches as his backroom staff. A serious foreign manager would not allow that, so sticking to our locals seems the best for the nation.
The last AFCON won by Nigeria in 2013 was done by a local coach late Stephen. In 2014, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF had no choice but to allow Stephen Keshi to take Nigeria to the World Cup and he performed creditably despite all the stumbling blocks that were thrown at him.
Another local coach in the name of Shuaibu Amodu qualified for Nigeria twice for the World Cup but was sidestepped on both occasions.
In 2016, some football fans in Lagos urged the NFF to reconsider its decision not to hire indigenous coaches to manage the senior national team, the Super Eagles. The fans spoke against the backdrop of the statement “No more Nigerian coaches for Super Eagles’’, credited to the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick.
They said instead, that the NFF should develop local coaches to meet global standards.
One of the fans, Yusuf Jasmin said the Eagles needed a coach that could understand the players and not necessarily a foreigner that did not know how to handle them.
“We have been going back and forth for decades on bettering football in the country and to date, we do not have a clue on how to tackle the issue.
“I still don’t understand why a fellow Nigerian is not seen as fit for the coaching position of our national team and we want to turn to the whites that are racist.
“We need someone who will understand our players and not a white coach that will come and create more problems for the team,’’ he said.
An athlete, Efe Osaruwa, accused the NFF of confusing the Eagles by not allowing the appropriate authorities to carry out their duties without distraction.
“A lot can be said about the NFF but the most important now in respect of this issue is the fact that they disguise themselves as advisers but truly are confusing.
If you recall before Shuaibu Amodu and his team, the NFF employed Bonfre Jo, Philip Trousiere, and others who were foreign nationals that were pushed off the post too. Does this mean that with the battalion of coaches the national team has had, no one can be singled out as proficient?
“We have been pointing fingers at the wrong place but it is now clear that the NFF and its leadership are to blame for our setback,’’ he said.
Another fan, Adekunle Aremu, a final year student of LASPOTECH, said the leadership of the NFF should be queried for not keeping to the promise made to coaches when they are hired. “It is corruption that has been our problem in the team. Monies are not paid in due time to players and the technical team because someone is probably sitting on what does not belong to him.
“If we must achieve results in the Super Eagles, NFF should be probed and its leadership changed. The president should declare a state of emergency in football or else we won’t be able to achieve anything in the next few qualifiers and competitions ahead of us,’’ he said.
Ex-International, Segun Odegbami, has called on the Nigeria Football Federation to look inward for an indigenous coach to handle the Super Eagles.
Odegbami who is a strong advocate of indigenous coaches last month said that Nigeria needed a better hand to handle the Super Eagles.
This came in the week former Eagles Manager, Jose Peseiro confirmed his exit as coach of the Super Eagles after his contract officially expired. Odegbami said: “Unless we want to be enslaved forever, in our colonial mentality where we think that only the white can coach us to success.
“All around us, we hear about some Nigerians who are excelling in all fields of endeavors and they are leaving the country to go and help other countries.
“Football is not a rocket science, but a simple game. We have lots of Nigerians who have all the qualifications to take us to any level.
“For me, I won’t suffer from colonial mentality again and enough of foreign coaches. Now, it’s time for a Nigerian coach to handle our national team,” the retired star said.
On his part, the Chairman of the Edo Football Association, Fred Newton Erhunmwunsen, said that the NFF should appoint an indigenous coach for the Super Eagles.
Erhunmwunsen in an interview with newsmen in Edo last Monday said that Nigeria has coaches who could perform excellently well if given the opportunity and the right environment to work. “I think I would prefer an indigenous coach, looking at what is going on now. It is progress for our indigenous coaches.
“Some of these foreign coaches do not have opportunities to see these people (local players) play and watch their progression.
“We have good coaches in Nigeria; there is no doubt about that. We have the likes of Nduka Ugbade, Emmanuel Amunike, Austin Eguavoen.
“Looking at the AFCON, an indigenous coach won it for the host country after a foreign coach was asked to leave, “he said.
The Chairman who said that the indigenous coaches know these local players better than the foreign coaches said that he will always support an indigenous coach. “We have them right here in Africa,” he said.
If you’ve been paying attention, you would know without an iota of doubt that Nigeria’s football fortunes lie entirely with Nigeria. We must bite the bullet now, rather than later, to be successful shortly.
By Benprince Ezeh
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